Volume 1.29 | Aug 3

Purified Blood Stem Cells Improve Success of Bone Marrow Transplants in Mice, Study Shows
Researchers have challenged decades of accepted wisdom about bone marrow transplantation with a new study showing that mice receiving purified blood stem cells are less prone to complications than mice receiving stem cells plus purified T cells. [Press release from Stanford University School of Medicine discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]

Six Researchers to Receive Prestigious Awards From the American Society of Hematology
The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world’s largest professional society of blood specialists, will honor six scientists who have made significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of hematologic diseases. These awards will be presented at the 52nd ASH Annual Meeting taking place December 4-7 in Orlando. [The American Society of Hematology Press Release]

NSF Funding Request Faring Well in Congress
While the 2011 budget requests of other U.S. research agencies are struggling to stay afloat in choppy fiscal seas, so far National Science Foundation’s (NSF) is sailing through Congress largely intact. [National Science Foundation, United States]

Senate Spending Panel Approves $1 Billion Boost for NIH
A Senate subcommittee matched President Barack Obama’s request for a $1 billion increase in 2011 for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). That raise would bring the agency’s total budget to $32 billion, or 3.5% above the 2010 level, according to a statement from the Senate appropriations labor, health, and human services subcommittee. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

NIH Takes on New Role in Fight Against Rare Diseases
A government program focusing on rare diseases, the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program, has launched five pilot projects that are taking the National Institutes of Health in a new direction: developing drugs. TRND will work together with scientists, advocates and others to do the required research and testing on drugs before a compound can be tried in humans in a clinical trial. [National Institutes of Health, United States]